Bill to ban public e-cig use advances

Updated 10:40 pm, Friday, May 15, 2015

HARTFORD -- Connecticut's 11-year-old ban on smoking in public places would expand to include e-cigarettes and vapor systems under a law that passed the House late Thursday night.

The bill, which passed 99-46, heads to the state Senate.

"This models the state's Clean Indoor Air Act," said Rep. Matthew Ritter, D-Hartford, co-chairman of the Public Health Committee. He called the bill a bipartisan effort to tackle the growing issue of e-cigarettes and the vaporizing of nicotine products in public places.

"I think we really tried to accommodate all the various needs of the Legislature," Ritter said.

Rep. Bob Godfrey, D-Danbury, one of the chief proponents of the bill, said during the House floor debate that the effort began as a casual conversation about a year ago, around the time that e-cigarettes and vaporizers began to proliferate.

The statewide ban on smoking in bars and restaurants took effect April 1, 2004.

"The vapor is still highly addictive," Godfrey said, adding that second-hand vapor can transfer doses of nicotine to bystanders. "Please, folks, they're not safe," he said, warning that tests on components indicate the presence of lead, tin, zinc, chromium and ethylene glycol.

But Rep. Brenda Kupchick, R-Fairfield, who's trying to quit smoking through the use of e-cigarettes, opposed the bill.

"Is there any evidence or data that you received from medical professionals that said vaping was dangerous?" Kupchick asked Ritter, who replied that the bill includes requirements that if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration creates new regulations, the Public Health Committee will be required to meet within 30 days.

"We think we have taken the first step toward acknowledging that there are dangers from second-hand vaping," Ritter said. "There are kids at such young ages in school now who have picked up e-cigarettes. We're not trying to make these people outcasts of society. There is a minor inconvenience to go outside."

But Kupchick doesn't want to be forced onto the sidewalk, to the temptation of actual cigarettes.

"Frankly, I don't think I could have quit smoking without e-cigarettes," she said. "It's kind of a deterrent for those trying to quit smoking to go outside with those who are smoking."

Under the law, e-cigarettes and vaporizers could be used in tobacco bars, as well as outdoor areas of bars and restaurants. Also, they would be allowed in prisons, public housing projects and designated areas in psychiatric facilities. Hotel and motel operators could allow e-cigarettes in up to 25 percent of rooms.